200 Things I Love About Writing (Blog)

[Steve Pavlina]

Use this thread to discuss the following entry from Steve Pavlina's blog:

200 Things I Love About Writing

[Bliss Sage]

Oohhh...when I read some of those my chest filled with a warm tingling feeling and made me cry, especially several in the early 100's...the feeling of love...thanks.

Some made me chuckle - "smelling vanilla" "disagreeing with what I've written"

It's true, there's a distinct difference after 100.

[Ninja]

You read my mind, Steve!

[RichGrad]

I love writing too! It allows me to express myself better than any other way I know how...

I write poetry and when I write, it just flows. I'm so thankful for my gift, that's why nowadays, I write to inspire.

[impaul99]

Brilliant post. Probably the best thing I've read on your site all year.

My favorite is # 190. "Reincarnating in a future life to read what I wrote in this one."

Would you be willing to talk about your view on this a bit? Is your thinking along the lines of "The Disappearance of the Universe" here?

[BizAdventure]

Absolutely brilliant.

I have been meditating on my desire to write for the last few days and I found myself just shaking my head to more than a few of your likes.

Thank you so much for sharing this insight with us.

Biz

[seeker5]

Originally Posted by Steve Pavlina

Use this thread to discuss the following entry from Steve Pavlina's blog:

200 Things I Love About Writing

I'm curious, what prompted you to write out this list? At first I thought maybe you had hit a spot where you were frustrated with writing, but then later I thought maybe you're in a habit of making lists of what you love you're doing.....?

[Steve Pavlina]

Originally Posted by seeker5

I'm curious, what prompted you to write out this list? At first I thought maybe you had hit a spot where you were frustrated with writing, but then later I thought maybe you're in a habit of making lists of what you love you're doing.....?

Just a gratitude exercise. As mentioned in the post it was originally only going to be 20 items, which would have taken about 3 minutes instead of 30.

[bgkarma]

Glad you posted this, and look forward to reading it a few times over, a little later. I myself have been in list writing mode lately, having found it to be one of the most direct routes to get to the heart of all the various things going on within me. The only thing is, I've stopped numbering as I go along, so it becomes a kind of poetry, but I continue to remind myself that it's "list writing" so this keeps it all fairly unpretentious. Thanks again!


BGK - (bgkarma.com)

[Bruce Achterberg]

Feedback for Steve
_______________________________


I really loved this article, Steve (if you could call it an article). To me it said:

Yeah, Steve may be much older, wiser, more skilled, more intelligent, and more successful then most of us, but when it comes down to it, he's just another fellow human being, essentially dealing with the same things we all have to deal with.

You may relate to your audience as an equal in attitude when it comes to your other articles, but the fact that you're an "authority in knowledge" does tend to create a sort of divide (which I'd say is a necessary evil).

For me, this article did a lot to humanise you, which in turn helps my interpretation of what you write. Your other articles are great and I wouldn't want to see less of them since they serve as an example to learn from, but this post has it's own unique type of inspiration.

I think another great thing about blogging is that with each new article you don't always have to assume the same perspective as the last (unlike, say, in a book) and it gives you a lot more freedom of expression and the ability to influence people in different ways and make different statements.

On a side note, I also love seeing examples of the specific exercises and processes you use (not just descriptions or explanations of them) as well as the input you enter into them, the results you get out of them, and the experiences you have with them. It’s both interesting and educational, and serves as something to go off rather then having to make something from scratch or learn the specifics of how to do something from another source or through a hell of a lot of trial and error. Suffice to say


My experiences with the exercise
_______________________________


After reading your article I was felt compelled to explore and experience the exercise for myself. While most of what I write in my journal is for private use only (ie. not really written well enough so that other people could understand), I thought I'd write this with the possibility sharing it in mind (don’t worry, I didn’t hold anything back because I knew I’d be sharing it... or at least I tried not to).

Anyway, suffice to say that the results where somewhat unexpected, and I look forward to sharing them with all of you. The exercise starts off as expected, and I honestly didn’t get to go as “deep” as I’d like to (that’d take more time... I’d probably need write a few hundred answers out before I really hit the “internal goldmine”), but something “clicked” in my mind close to the end. I wouldn’t say the exercise itself brought upon said realisation – that was something that’s been developing slowly over time – but it certainly served as a catalyst that brought everything to a point for me.

Note: If you want more info on what approach I use for personal development and what I mean by saying "something that's been developing slowly over time", I'd suggest reading this article. It's largely an approach I stumbled upon by very messy trial and error, and involves going with the flow without trying to force things as, for me, forcing things seems to produce sub-optimal results.

I used to think personal dev would be quick, easy, and something you could "control" directly, but I find it's more like a wild beast that you learn to work in harmony with rather then something you can tame and control. Again, it's not something I really "discovered", but a natural pattern that emerged by itself. The more I align with, "surrender", and relax into it, the more progress I seem to make.

I'll note that the exercise took me much longer then 30 mins. I wasn't counting, and I don't have the neat-o "how long you've been typing in this journal entry" feature that The Journal offers in my humble (yet free) Keynote journal, but it probably took me about an hour and a half to write what I did. I don't think/write/act as quickly as Steve (yet... ), and I'm much less concise then Steve, so that's probably why.

You can find the results in the post below this one. The only thing I edited was a few words I misspelled, the wording of two words that I intended to say one way but typed out another, and one sentence that needed an extra word in it to make sense. It kills me to leave a post so un-polished, but the rest is 100% un-edited, straight from my (Keynote) journal (I’m yet to upgrade to The Journal, but I’ve used it, really like it, and plan to upgrade soon. If you haven't tried the free 45-day trial of the journal, I highly advise that you do so).

Enjoy!

[Bruce Achterberg]

200 things I love about writing:

1) Connection
2) Communication
3) Empathy
4) Being able to express myself
5) Being able to target the true self of others
6) Being able to resonate with other people
7) Being able to help people be successful despite my apparent lack of success
8) Being able to share some love through a written, physical medium
9) The energy
10) The emotions
11) The chance to interact with others on a deep level
12) The people
13) The readers
14) The opportunity to share what I love with the world
15) Giving something back after years of taking
16) Helping people
17) Helping people to be inspired and ignite their inner flame
18) The timeless nature of writing
19) The ability to zone out, look at the clock, and see 3 hours have passed
20) The pure limitless ideas scape to explore
21) The exploration itself
22) The ability to make a difference
23) The privilege of being able to make a difference
24) Being able to decide what "making a difference is" and going for it
25) Connecting to other great writers and being inspired, uplifted, and encouraged by them
26) Being shown that this path I'm on does have a heart and is worthy of the challenge it entails
27) Showing people what I love most about life
28) Showing people that they can be more then they are currently living
29) Leading be example
30) Setting an example
31) Setting an example for myself
32) Detaching from my writing and seeing it as a self-less expression
33) Expressing my true inner self, if only slightly
34) Running into the blocks associated with writing
35) Appreciating the blocks that I come across
36) Being thankful that my deficiencies and imperfections give me a chance to grow
37) Getting to number 37 on a crazy writing exercise and thinking "god, how on earth am I going to get another 160+ answers!"
38) Being able to smile as I write something
39) Knowing what I write may make other people smile
40) Being thankful for my ability to write, which apparently spawned out of nowhere
41) Realising that strengths can come from anywhere, even obscure activities such as writing for an internet forum
42) Being inspired to pursue my passion even further by not letting fear and doubt hold me back and exploring what interests me
43) The ability to explore consciousness in it's pure form and giving mental abstraction to that "substance"
44) Being able to sit here, quiet my mind, and listen quietly for what arises
45) Having red, squiggly lines show up under my words as I get another opportunity to correct a word I've spelt wrong and learn from it
46) The great software available to write with! Without it, ugh, I don't think I'd ever write
47) Not being subjected to hand-breaking writing with a pen. Dear god, the hand-breakage
48) Being able to do something meaningful with my writing, instead of just following instruction and writing what I'm told
49) Being able to openly express myself without persecution or fear of that
50) Challenging others and throwing them a curve ball that doesn't just put them off, but smacks them in the head and kind of makes them uncomfortable with their conditioning
51) Showing people that there is more to the world then just conditioning, and that beyond it lie unexplored riches; riches very worthy of exploration
52) Pausing as I write as I express my desire to do things well by constantly changing and tweaking what I write
53) Being able to express myself, and not have to follow the path someone set down before me
54) Thinking that writing 200 answers would be challenging, but then learning that it's the very challenge that makes you step up to it
55) The insights gained from writing, and how it seems to calm and sooth my soul
56) Being reminded of dreaming, and how writing is both a process to give and to also gain clarity
57) Seeing evidence that writing both drains AND supplies the mind
58) Experiencing such a synergy of ideas, ability, people, connections, communication, etc.
59) Learning from my mistakes (such as being told by a high school teacher that writing "ect" makes you look like you don't know what else to say ).
60) Having the opportunity to get around the tricky, often silly rules of formatting and come up with unique and creative methods to express what I write the way I want to
61) Being able to express my desires so easily
62) Being able to write for free -- I've honestly never come across something more valuable
63) Being amused by the fact that (A) while Steve writes reasonably short answers, I can't help but write longer, more detailed answers, and...
64) (B) Looking at the first words at each point (ie. Showing, pausing, being, thinking, etc) and seeing that I still have lots of great room for improvement and enjoyable optimisation to do
65) Being able to be influenced and taught the beautiful art of writing by others who not only love but have honed their craft
66) Being able to be a participant in the process of improvement
67) Being, being, being!
68) Being able to express humour, and getting in the flow of things.
69) Experiencing the energising state of flow and coming to terms with what causes it and how it occurs in the first place
70) Moving from the awkward state of unconscious incompetence to the enjoyable state, relieving state of conscious competence
71) Being frustrated at having to stop my crazy typing and use my 1337 G5 Logitech mouse to move the cursor when they could let you do such things more easily via the keyboard
72) Seeing my frustration for what it is -- both trivial, amusing, but also sometimes warranted and a good catalyst for change/an idea/improvement
73) Being able to write virtually whatever I want, and not having to worry about what people think of me
74) Worrying about what people think of me and my writing but then learning my worry was completely misplaced
75) Seeing that sometimes my worry was not misplaced
76) Being able to be wrong, and not have the world crash down
77) Forgiveness, both in those who read your writing, as well as forgiving those you are writing to
78) Being able to express a side of myself that I've never dared express before
79) Fearlessness
80) seeing life from the perspective of my inner being and enjoying every experience, even the seemingly bad ones
81) Being able to get away with and still express meaning despite minor flaws in my writing
82) Getting to a sentence and thinking, "oh, god, how on earth am I going to express that?!"
83) Snacking on banana chips, and tamari almonds, walnuts, and cashews (that were apparently a big -- and unexpected -- hit at the Toastmasters Christmas party I went to last night)
84) Being able to tell people that "I do a lot of writing" and looking at their utter confusion as they try to understand what I do, put a label on me, and try to slot someone who is largely unconditioned into their conditioning
85) Seeing the ego in others, but with empathy instead of judgement
86) Seeing the ego so clearly in myself, and seeing that, ok, what I just wrote was extremely egoic, and that's ok
87) Being able to write things that not everybody will understand, but will really resonate with a few people who can relate to what I'm talking about
88) Fearing what people will think of what I write, and having that fear act as a catalyst for growth
89) Writing points that are similar to what I've written in an effort to reach the mighty #200
90) Exploiting every opportunity for humour that I can and knowing it was worth it
91) Having people put off a bit my by my more abstract, "out there" humour as I express another part of myself: my lack of limits and boundaries
92) Being fearful of parts of yourself that require both responsibility and intelligence to use and experiencing that fear as something that helps to temper your character like you would a sword
93) Sitting there, trying hard to think of a word, often when I haven't got enough sleep and my brain just isn't working as I'd like it to.
94) The experience of remembering a word that has plagued you with not-remembering all day
95) The political-uncorrectness of writing, or at least, the fact that you don't have to be
96) Not making much sense, but still being able to be understood
97) Being able to get up from what I'm writing and take a break. I'm grabbing something to eat!
98) Writing for a global audience, instead of just myself.
99) The synergy that comes from seeing no divide between Service to Self (STS) and Service to Others (STO)
100) Reading through things that confuse the hell out of me (I'm thinking of you, Steve! ) and being able to write through the lack of understanding until I reach a point of clarity where I can say, "ah, now I get it... it's so elegant".
101) Being able to "somehow" energetically interpret what I read from others and interpreting what I write and learning that, while I try my best to express my true self, I still have a lot of work to go
102) Getting to point #102 and realising that, as a result of this exercise, enough "internal switches" have finally "clicked" into place and helped make me realise that it's time to make my own website.
103) Seeing that I want to end on an even number, which is more then just a wacky quirk, but an example of how writing acts as a mirror for us to look into
104) Ending on point 104, realising that getting my website started is much more important then adhering to the silly rules of an extremely helpful exercise, but an exercise all the same. What made me want to start a website? Well, after months of doubting myself, I've learnt two things:

(Continued next post...)

[Bruce Achterberg]

(... continued from the above post.)

(1) Doubt is for teh lose.

Most of your justification and excuses come from fear and doubt rather then your intellect. To quote Steve:

Faith in yourself isn’t a result of success. It’s the cause of it.

(2) A lesson from Toastmasters and some wisdom from Dragonball.

After attending some Toastmasters meeting after months of "yeah, Toastmasters looks interesting, I should probably go check it out. But hmmm, I'm not certain if I need it or if I want to do it yet... I better think about it more", I realised that you don't first become prepared and then do something. You first do something, and, as a result of that, then become prepared.

I don't think this will work for everyone, but when it comes to me taking action and then optimising my results from there is FAR more effective then speculation, analysis, etc. Taking action not only seems more congruent with me, but it awakens my sense of determination and fearlessness -- two qualities that I only have access to when I am in a challenging situation that creates a need for them. To quote the character of Goku from the english dub of Dragonball Z:

The power comes from a need, not a desire. You have to create that need.

--------------

So thank you, Steve, Erin. And most of all, thank you to everyone who has served as an audience to my writing [and my expression in general]. Your help, either directly or indirectly, has helped me get to where I am today.

Now let's see what I can do with a website...

[BlueCrane]

I have often thought - but rarely ever told anyone - that my writing turns out to be much more beneficial for myself than to any of my readers, although on the surface I seem to be providing a lot of value for them.

The main benefit I feel is being able to express myself by digging deep to write about it - it brings so much more to the surface than just thinking or talking about subjects I care about.

[Lisa McGregor]

I wish I loved writing. But I thank God for all those who do, for they contribute so much to the world. Thank you.
Love
Lisa

[Bruce Achterberg]

Originally Posted by Lisa McGregor

I wish I loved writing. But I thank God for all those who do, for they contribute so much to the world. Thank you.
Love
Lisa

Writing is merely one outlet for expression -- one particular medium you can use. Funny enough, I actually don't like the process of writing (well, I don't like process much in general -- it gets in the way of expression), but I love practically everything else associated with the expression side of it.

What I really love about writing is that it's one of the most effective mediums for expression on the planet (unless you can somehow make mass, telepathic broadcasts, but even those will end when the broadcaster dies). Honestly, nothing else comes closer in terms of flexibility or the complete lack of difficulty involved (eg. compare writing a book to making a game... books don't require full teams of people and millions in funding). To quote David Sirlin:

[...] books have it so much better as a medium. You can just go write one without having $20 million or whatever, and you can be sure people will read it in 100 years if it happens to be incredibly good.

As for why you should care about writing at all, I once again have to plug an article from David Sirlin:

Writing Well, Part 1: Sensibilities

I think everyone who does any writing (even a little) should at least give it a read over, but to spoil the intro and quote one of the best bits from the article:

You should care about good writing. My English teachers cared about good writing, and they did a good job imparting their writing sensibilities to me, even though most of them hated me. What they never taught me though, was why I should care about good writing. I figured it was like ballet dancing; dancers strive to be the best they can at their craft for its own sake, as well as to impress the judges—that small group who can actually detect the nuances between two different performances.

That’s all wrong. Writing isn’t for English teachers or judges of essay contests—it’s for everyone. It is our most pervasive tool for communicating ideas. You should care about writing not for its own sake, but because you care about ideas. You care about clear thinking and the clear and honest expression of that thinking. Incidentally, you’ll be lied to your whole life by marketers, politicians, and business people who deliberately avoid clear language, but that’s the subject of my second essay. For now, let’s focus on the simple mechanics of writing plainly and clearly. [Note to Sirlin: I love how you refer to the workings of writing with the term "mechanics". Reminds me of your A True Gamer post.]

[billybrads]

...being able to read what you wrote in this life in your next life...

that's something deep